Businesses often have a backup plan in place. In many businesses, a backup of core business data is performed every night. This backup is then taken off site in case a catastrophe happens to the business data at the business site. A backup may be stored for months before the media upon which the backup is stored is reused for another backup or disposed of.
Medium and large businesses may have many employees devoted to ensuring that backups are performed, archived, and available in case of need. Small businesses and individuals, however, may not have the same level of resources to devote to performing and maintaining backups.
In response, some companies have begun offering backup services that back up computer data over the Internet. The backup services rely on connections that may be slow, unreliable, and intermittent. Furthermore, a backup facility may be responsible for backing up data on hundreds, thousands, or more computers. Performing consistent backups under such circumstances is a challenge.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.